Pages

Wednesday, March 14, 2012

Who Do You Think You Are – the Lou Gossett Blog-Episode

Photo of Lou Gossett by Luke Ford. Used by permission.

The
NBC show, Who Do You Think You Are,
has heightened the curiosity of many concerning their own ancestral history by
highlighting the ancestral hunt of seven celebrities. Because of the show, I decided to rehash
my celebrity connection – a historical connection that I revealed in Mississippi to Africa. Hence, this second blog post was
entitled Who Do You Think You Are – the Lou Gossett Blog-Episode. In this short blog story, which is actually a
piggyback from my first blog post “The Blog Picture”, you will follow the
journey of how a historical link to award-winning actor Lou Gossett was
discovered simply because I was curious about something. I don’t know if Lou Gossett is even aware of this history. (Update: I received a surprise phone call from Lou Gossett on March 18. He was thrilled to learn this history!)

As
mentioned in my first post, I discovered that my great-great-grandfather,
Edward “Ed” Danner, was born into slavery around 1832 on Thomas Danner Junior’s farm
in Union County, South Carolina. Shortly
before 1860, Grandpa Ed was sold to Dr. William J. Bobo, who transported him to
Como, Mississippi. I have researched the
Danners at the South Carolina Department of Archives and History (SCDAH) in
Columbia. I have also been able to acquire much information from Stephenville,
Texas librarian Glenda Stone and from David Getzendanner. Both are direct descendants of Thomas Jr. Compiling data on the slave-holding family is
absolutely imperative for pre-1865 research, as you will see.

Glenda
revealed to me that Thomas Jr. was the son of Thomas Danner Sr. (aka Thomas
Getzendanner) and Milly Stokes Danner, who established a plantation on the
banks of the Enoree River in Union County, where he died in 1844. A name change to Danner took place after
Thomas Sr. migrated to South Carolina from Frederick, Maryland in 1788. Learning Thomas Senior’s death date was
vitally important because it enabled me to obtain his estate record from the
SCDAH. On New Year’s Day in 1845, 22
slaves were recorded in the estate inventory by their first names and their values,
since enslaved African Americans were considered property – very valuable
property. Interestingly, one of the two
appraisers was Dr. William Bobo. Those 22
enslaved people were the following:

The slave inventory from the estate of Thomas G. Danner Sr., taken Jan. 1, 1845, Union County, South Carolina

Interestingly,
Thomas’ sons, Levi, John, and Thomas Jr., did not inherit any of the 22 slaves,
according to his estate record. They were dispersed among his widow Milly, daughter Catherine Bates,
and two sons-in-law. One of the two sons-in-law was James GOSSETT, who married his daughter,
Rachel Danner, in 1841. Gossett received
4 of the 22 slaves from the estate. Seeing
that name, I immediately thought of actor Lou Gossett Jr. By chance, could there somehow be a historical
connection to him? I was curious, indeed. However, I needed to know more about his
family history. Was his family from
South Carolina?

Luckily, I had one
common resource to possibly find more information – the Internet. According to the History Makers website, he
was born Louis Cameron Gossett Jr. on May 27, 1936, in Brooklyn, New York. They interviewed Gossett in 2005. This
site also stated that his father, Louis Gossett Sr., was from Bennettsville,
South Carolina. He had been a
hardworking porter who eventually became the head of a local gas company in New
York. Although Bennettsville is in
Marlboro County, which is over 100 miles east of Union County, I still decided to do some
census research on Ancestry.com to see what I could find out about his father’s
family. This is what I found in 1930:

In
1930, in Brooklyn, New York, an 18-year-old Louis Gossett, whose birthplace was
South Carolina, was living with a white Kurtz family on Neptune Avenue. He was the only Louis Gossett in New
York. Was this the actor's father, Louis Sr.? Hmmm….. What else did I see for 1930?

Also
in 1930, as shown above, other African-American Gossetts from South Carolina resided
in Brooklyn. Lacy Gossett, age 41, and
his wife and son, Timothy Gossett, age 14, resided on Dean Street. Woodrow and Helen Gossett, ages 11 and 16,
respectively, lived with an African-American McDonald family on Warehouse Avenue. Were they Louis Senior’s parents and
siblings? Hmmm…. My next step was to check
the 1920 census to see what I find.

I
could not locate any Gossetts in Marlboro County. However, to my surprise, I found the same
Lacy Gossett who was in Brooklyn, New York in 1930. In 1920, as shown above, he was living in the Jonesville district of UNION COUNTY! His household contained his wife Ada and
children, Louis (8), Helen (6), Timothy (4), granddaughter Ethelene (5), Woodroe (1), and his
mother, Louise Gossett (50). Eight-year-old
Louis Gossett was undoubtedly the actor's father, Louis Gossett Sr. Actor Lou Gossett was the grandson of Lacy
Gossett from Union County. I became excited! Following the genealogy rule of thumb of
going backwards – working from the known to the unknown – I was now curious how far I
could go back in the census records. Thus,
the family was located in the 1910 and the 1900 censuses. This is what was found in the 1900 Union
County, South Carolina census:

The
1900 Union County census revealed that the actor’s grandfather was Lacy Gossett
Junior, who was a 12-year-old teenager in the household of his parents,
Lacy Sr. and Louise Gossett. According
to that census, Lacy Sr., the actor’s great-grandfather, was born in September
1866 in South Carolina. Who was his
father? My curiosity level was rising. So I checked the 1880 Union County census and
found the following possible match:

In
1880, no one named Lacy Gossett was found in that census. However, I noticed that a 60-year-old man
named Green Gossett had a 13-year-old son named “Latha” in his household. Now, scroll back up to the Danner slave
inventory, and you will see that a “Negro man Green, $500” was inherited by James
Gossett in 1845. Was he Green
Gossett? The answer is a resounding YES! How did I know? Well, I looked on the next census page – investigating
Green’s neighborhood – and who did I find?
James and Rachel Gossett were just several residences away from
Green. This was a major find! But, was Green’s son “Latha” and Lacy Gossett
Sr. one and the same person? Hmmm…..

Luckily,
I soon found more concrete clues. Curiosity
had gotten the best of me one night, so I decided to “google” the name “Lacy
Gossett” on the Internet just to see what comes up. Low and behold, the search results led me to
an archived New York Times article,
published May 23, 1921, that contained the names Lacy and Green Gossett. Newspapers are indeed great genealogical
sources. Putting it nicely, the actor’s
grandfather and great-grandfather were rather “lively” in New York during the
Harlem Renaissance era, but not in the artistic sense. Well, let’s see exactly what I mean by that
statement.

Turns
out, the actor’s grandfather, Lacy Gossett Jr., was arrested in New York in 1921 for
assaulting a man named George Talbot with a crowbar. After Lacy was arrested, the whereabouts of
his father were revealed. His father, a preacher, had been wanted by federal
officials for sending obscene letters through the mail. Yes, you read the
article correctly. However, despite the
humor of his offense, I immediately noticed that this father was noted as “Green
Gossett”, not Lacy Gossett Sr. The
father had recently moved to New York from Detroit, running from the law. So, will I find him in the 1920 Michigan
census and will this clear up the name confusion? Here’s what I found in the 1920 Wayne County, Michigan (Detroit Ward 3) census:

A
50-year-old Green Gossett was found living on Montcalm Street in Detroit, Michigan in 1920. His birthplace was South Carolina and his reported occupation was janitor. This Green was obviously not the 60-year-old
Green Gossett in Union County, South Carolina in 1880. However, quite plausibly, Lacy Sr. decided to
go by his father’s name and thus became Green Gossett when he left South
Carolina. Also, one can plausibly
surmise that while he may have been called “Lacy”, his official name may have
always been Green. Despite the name
confusion, actor Lou Gossett’s great-grandfather, Lacy Sr. (aka Green Jr.), was
undoubtedly the son of Green Gossett or “Negro man Green, $500” in 1845 and was
likely “Latha” in Green’s household in 1880 in Union County.

David
Getzendanner informed me that Thomas Danner Jr. resided on his father’s
plantation. No land records were ever located
indicating that Thomas Jr. had purchased his own land. Of course, the 1000-acre plantation that
Thomas Sr. owned was sufficient enough to accommodate the farming business of
his second youngest son, a business that included slave labor, the work and sweat of my
ancestors. Therefore, my historical
connection to Lou Gossett was found to be this – his great-great-grandfather,
Green Gossett (born around 1820), and my great-great-grandfather, Edward Danner
(born around 1832), hailed from the same father-and-son plantation in Union County, South
Carolina. Whether or not there was a
familial connection between the two has yet to be answered. Stay tuned.

I snapped this picture of the Union County, South Carolina Courthouse in the town of Union during my visit there in 2007.

Welcome to the GeneaBloggers family. Hope you find the association fruitful; I sure do. I have found it most stimulating, especially some of the Daily Themes.

May you keep sharing your ancestor stories!

Dr. Bill ;-)http://drbilltellsancestorstories.blogspot.com/Author of "13 Ways to Tell Your Ancestor Stories" and family saga novels:"Back to the Homeplace" and "The Homeplace Revisited"http://thehomeplaceseries.blogspot.com/http://www.examiner.com/x-53135-Springfield-Genealogy-Examinerhttp://www.examiner.com/x-58285-Ozarks-Cultural-Heritage-Examiner

Welcome to GeneaBloggers! Great story. I just finished watching the 2nd series of the US WDYTYA. The boxed set had a bonus episode from the 1st series - the one on Emmitt Smith which was really interesting. Can't wait for the next series of the Australian version of WDYTYA which starts the end of this month. Happy researching Melvin.

Cuz---as usual, you took your skills as a researcher and as a story teller and took the reader on a journey as you documented this family line. I am thrilled that you have now developed a platform to tell the wonderful stories that you have to tell. Bring on more!-Angela-

Well, now I want to know what happened to your great-great grandfather Edward Danner! Is that in the book? Also, I should tell you that my 6th great grandfather was Absolom Bobo (1730-1811). Whether he is an ancestor of Dr. William Bobo I'm not sure, but it seems likely as my Bobos were in Laurens Co., SC, right next to Union Co.

Thank you Mr. Collier. Timothy Gossett was my Grandfather- Lou Gossett Jr's Uncle. My dad, Lou Gossett's first cousin, sent me this link... This is what I've been longing for. My children need to know from whence they come. I appreciate the work, Sir.

I appreciate the thoroughness you present in relaying your research. Many thanks for sharing! I especially enjoy how you demonstrate the reliability of online resources; I've been researching my own Ancestors and definitely find those resources wonderful!

My only hope is that one day the widespread identification of our ancestors as being enslaved is taken and used by many.

About Melvin

WELCOME! I've been conducting historical and genealogical research since I
was 19. It is a lifelong journey. This blog combines my passion for writing and genealogical research. I am currently the author of two books, Mississippi to Africa: A
Journey of Discovery (2008) and 150 Years
Later: Broken Ties Mended (2011). I appeared on the NBC show, “Who Do You Think You Are,” as one of the expert
genealogists in the Spike Lee episode (2010). I give workshops and
presentations on historical and genealogical subjects. I'm a graduate of
Mississippi State Univ., receiving a B.S. degree in Civil Engineering. In
pursuit of a career change, I earned a Master of Arts degree in
African-American Studies from Clark Atlanta Univ. (2008) and later completed
graduate courses in Archival Studies. I have worked as an archivist while
residing in Atlanta. Federally employed, I now reside in the Washington, D.C.
area.